Aliways and Ulice

I left Ljubljana at 11 in the pouring rain, pink raincoat with the hood over my head - squelched to the bus station (not a grand affair) and managed to get on a bus to Bled 10 minutes later. Petra (yesterday's guide) had waxed anti-lyrical (as opposed to lyrical) about the  chivalry or lack thereof of Slovenian men. And behold, as I indicated to the driver that my suitcase needed to go in the hold of the bus, he opened said hold and went back to sit in the bus.  Croatian bus drivers would always always put the bag into the hold. Interesting. The rain continued for the duration of the bus trip (1 hr 25) and then, unless it was my imagination, tried to rain a little bit harder as I got off the bus and walked to the hotel. Thank goodness for the pink raincoat and new shoes!  The temperature dropped to about 15 degrees to boot. As soon as the checking in formalities were done with, the pink raincoat and I squelched down towards the town centre, ostensibly in search of a dry cafe wi

Today was a rest day - time to chill, sleep in, take a breather, relax. So, we didn't - this morning we hired bikes (mine a very European cruiser bike replete with a bell and carriers) and three of us set off for Vintgar Gorge which is a cycle of about 6 ks by the time we got lost and regrouped. This is a 1.6 gorge cut by the Radovna River. The water tumbles along from water fall to water fall, culminating in the Sum (with a 'sh' sound on the S) which is 13 m high. There is a bridge over the fall, loaded with tourists, bringing to mind Cave Creek - so I stayed on the side until a few hundred kilos moved to the other side - no point in taking chances... When we arrived there, the crowds were sparse, but by the time we headed back, the trail was like Queen St with slow drivers. It was well worth the cycle and the walk though - quite chilly and damp with the wind created by the falls, together with the spray from the water. I do need to mention the green of

Today our group headed to the coast for a visit to Piran in the morning - I know you have already been there with me, but it is so beautiful, and worth another visit, so come on. The name Piran comes from Pyros or Pyr, Greek for fire or light house - which of course there was to navigate boats to Koper. Piran has had residents from the 5th century, and citizens relied mainly on maritime trade, fishing and salt-works. But today, no thought of salt-works, we wandered past the statue of Tartini and the Venetian House with the 'let them talk' inscription, and up to the bell tower. This is interesting because it is a replica of the bell tower in St Marks Square in Venice, except that the original tower in Venice has collapsed and been replaced, making this replica tower older than the one being replicated. The bell rings every 15 minutes, so the challenge is to get up and down again before you are deafened with the ringing. 146 steps, 14 levels named after sain

We dragged ourselves back across the road to 3Glav Adventure Office again this morning. These are the same good people who organized our canyoning, and today we are cycling using 3Glav's wonderful bikes. When I read the itinerary, there was mention of a 16 k cycle, but last night's dinner disclosure was that the cycle would be 44 ks with a guide. This called for my Padded Cycling Pants which nicely justified me dragging them around in my suitcase for the last few weeks for such an occasion. So best you grab yours too! You will already know the road to Vintgar Gorge, but just before that really steep bit, we veered left and went up an even steeper road. This is a 'main' road but let's say it's wiser to cycle in single file. Some are faster than others, it's just the way it is. The first little town had such narrow roads between the houses and barns that it would be impossible to widen the road. And a very rural smell as we passed cows being housed in ba